In order to attenuate, filter, or clip a signal conveyed by a coaxial line, it is known to interpose a signal processing circuit in the line.
One of the methods used for interposing such a circuit consists in housing a signal processing module in a coaxial connector, with the module being enclosed in an inside cavity of the connector.
The cavity is inaccessible from the outside and has at least two substantially facing electrical conductors penetrating into it.
In general, the cavity is integrally formed in a conductive material which is itself electrically connected to the outer conductor of the coaxial line.
The signal processing module generally comprises a substrate carrying a circuit that includes signal processing functions such as attenuation, clipping, or filtering, for example.
The tracks of the circuit terminate at contact terminals located on the edges of the substrate, preferably at opposite ends so that, when the module is engaged in the cavity, each terminal is in the vicinity of one of the electrical conductors that penetrates therein.
The substrate is held in the cavity by fixing means such as tabs or clips on the walls of the cavity.
Each contact terminal is electrically connected to the corresponding electrical conductor penetrating into the cavity either by soldering or by a male-female type connection or by crimping.
A major drawback of such prior processing modules lies in the fact that installing and fixing a module in a cavity are operations that are relatively expensive.
Not only is it necessary to provide fixing means in the cavity to enable it to receive and hold the signal processing module, but it is also necessary to make electrical connections between the electrical conductors penetrating into the cavity and the contact terminals of the circuit formed on the substrate.
Also, in addition to this problem of cost, such known devices also suffer from a problem of reliability.
Solder joints, male-female type connections, and crimping as performed between the contact terminals of the signal processing module and the electrical conductors penetrating into the cavity tend to break because of the stresses to which they are subjected due to the thermal expansions of the various materials constituting the conductor, or because of the forces transmitted by the connection interfaces of the connector when the connector is engaged with another connector.